Young People’s Economic Activity, Training and Wellbeing during the Covid crisis
Speakers: Hans Dietrich (IAB, Nuremberg), Golo Henseke (UCL IOE)
Date: Wednesday 14 July 2021
Time: 13:00-14:00
As countries emerge from the Covid crisis, it is time to take stock. Young people have been hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with adverse impacts across many aspects of their lives. For example, there was an increase in mental health problems among 16-24-year-olds, a disruption of their education and training, and challenges to their career opportunities and employment. But while the pandemic might have affected all, countries have responded differently, both to Covid itself and the associated socio-economic and psychosocial consequences.
This seminar compares the challenges young people have faced in the UK and Germany during the crisis and its aftermath, the available coping resources, and their outlook to the future. We find that long-term unemployment has risen in the age group 16-24 years in both countries, contributing to an overall increase in youth unemployment. Against the backdrop of increasing labour market uncertainty, we present new evidence on young people’s assessment of job skills learning during the crisis and its interaction with prior career preparation, drawing on a novel longitudinal study of young people in the UK.
About the speakers:
Hans Dietrich is a senior researcher at the Institute for Employment Research in Nuremberg. He has extensively published on youth unemployment and youth schemes, vocational training and entry into the labour market from a national and a cross-country perspective.
Golo Henseke is a senior researcher at the UCL Institute of Education, where he works primarily on issues around skills development and skills utilisation in the labour market. His research examines graduate labour markets, transitions into and within the labour market, and antecedents and consequences of inequality in job quality.
The event is open to all and hosted via Zoom.